Tax Reform Bills Aim To Drive Revenue, Support Investments, Deputy Speaker Kalu Tells UK MPs
…Says, IPOB Leader, Kanu Subscribing to Peace
By Juliet Vincent
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has told members of the United Kingdom’s Parliament that the major aim of the Tax Reform Bills is to raise the revenue profile of the country as well as support local and international investments.
Kalu was quoted in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu on Thursday, during a meeting on UK -Nigeria Strategic Dialogue with the Deputy Leader, House of Lords and United Kingdom Minister of African Affairs, Rt. Hon. Lord Collins of Highbury on Wednesday in London.
He said that the existing Nigerian tax laws are obsolete and needed to be reviewed and streamlined with the global best practices and standards.
It could be recalled that the National Assembly is currently considering a couple of bills aimed at reforming the fiscal climate for which the federal government is engaging the stakeholders to get their input.
The bills included; the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill; the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
Kalu said that Nigeria is the right destination for investments and called on the UK business and the international community as a whole to increase their investment ratio in the country.
He said, “Our tax laws have been
obsolete. So, what we are trying to do now is to streamline them in line with global best practices.
“The aim is to drive revenue and also support some of the investors who have irregular tax laws affecting their revenue, streamlining them to know what they are paying for. Not multiple taxation on the same issues.”
The Deputy Speaker while highlighting the legislative agenda of the 10th House of Representatives, said that the Parliament has prioritized national security, law reforms, economic growth and development, social sector reforms and development, inclusion and open parliament, foreign policy, climate change and environmental sustainability for improvement.
Kalu who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review added that certain key areas of reform has also been outlined in the Constitution review process.
According to him, the areas include; increased women participation in politics with creation of special seats to increase the number of women in Nigeria’s National and State Houses of Assembly; local government reforms to improve the autonomy of local government councils and their ability to deliver on development; state policing to address localized security challenges in Nigeria; improved human rights to strengthen Nigeria’s compliance with international human rights standards by empowering relevant Committees of the House to exercise more oversight of the Police and our security services; supporting reforms to improve the judiciary and enable them to perform better.
According to him, others are; constitutional and electoral reforms through modernization of the electoral framework to ensue free, fair, and transparent elections, constitutional amendments to address systemic inefficiencies and promote good governance and pursuing more engagement with the civil society and stakeholders to build consensus on critical reform issues.
He expressed gratitude to the UK government and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for support to the parliament for relevant institutional development programs, training workshops and consultative sessions to better equipp the legislators also requested for expanded support on capacity building, expansion of public engagement mechanisms to strengthen transparency and accountability, security collaboration, human rights advocacy, support for electoral reforms to provide expertise and resources to enhance Nigeria’s electoral processes and ensure credible elections and parliamentary exchanges for Nigerian parliamentarians with the UK parliament.
He also said that the strategic partnership between both countries will ensure continued growth and jobs creation, enhanced national security, migration, justice and home affairs, technology, automobile manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture and food security.
He added, “UK could do more with Nigeria knowing our history with the UK. Increase the frequency of trade missions to Nigeria like other nations because various opportunities are there beyond oil and gas; Green metals, etc”.
Kalu explained some of the policies of the President Tinubu administration especially in economic reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy, the intervention in the foreign exchange market, new regional development commissions, tax reforms, student loan, credit scheme and efforts to diversify the Nigerian economy from dependence on fossil fuels, climate change concerns, saying that the parliament is in support.
The Deputy Speaker informed the British MPs that, beyond law making, he also has intervention programmes to tackle the escalating insecurity situation especially in the South East adding that the security situation in Nigeria required various interventions to resolve it.
Kalu said that the intervention was necessary to help to restore peace in the South East.
He said, “I adopted the non kinetic model in the south east Nigeria where civil war left marks that birthed conflicts and agitations which the barrels of gun over the years in form of military intervention failed to heal. Peace In South East Project- PISE-P became the new platforms for intervention”.
He said that the Leader of the Indigenous People’s of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has also subscribed to peace.
Kalu however stated that frantic efforts are being made to release him from detention.
He added, “In order to achieve the peace we are looking for in that south eastern region, we have to bring Nnamdi Kanu out of incarceration because a lot of criminals are leveraging his incarceration as a reason to commit various heinous crimes and we cannot continue to allow that.
The Deputy Speaker noted that, “While he is in court, what some of us have done has been to look for a political approach towards the resolution of the problem by appealing to Mr. President because you can’t coerce the President, you can’t force him. We want to use that approach to achieve peace in that area and the President that we have is a listening President. He is not averse to it.
He added, “He’s opening up lines for conversations. And we are doing the conversation and he is watching and getting advice on how to go about it. I am actually one of those who approached him for his release. I am from the region and I know what that would do for my region. And I have visited him. And I asked him do you still want to continue with the agitations. That was before the President signed into the South East Development Commission (SEDC) and he, if the President signs it, it means he’s favorably disposed to rebuilding the south east that went through war and that’s the Biafra I am for. The Biafra I am looking for is good roads, hospitals, schools for our people. That’s it. The Biafra I am looking for is not to be President or take a State. It’s for that place to be rebuilt.
Kalu said, “Now that the President has signed it, if he comes out, he will join my peace advocacy which is Peace In South East Project (PISE-P), that he will be a Peace Ambassador, project peace and all those who are using his name to name to commit crime because there will be no excuse again”.
Lord Collins who commended Kalu door his efforts said “I think your approach is a correct one. The focus on peace, progress, is key. What you’re advocating is absolutely right”,
In a similar meeting with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) led by Hon. Kate Osamor at Westminster on the sidelines.of the UK-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue, Kalu also urged UK Parliament to continue supporting the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.
Welcoming Kalu and his team of lawmakers from Nigeria to Westminster, Osamor who traced her roots to Nigeria assured that the United Kingdom remained a strategic partner to Nigeria on a number of fronts.
Osamor commended President Bola Tinubu for the establishment of the South East Development Commission noting that her familiarity with the post-civil war challenges of Nigeria gives her the confidence that the Commission was a great catalyst towards fostering greater integration in the South East region.
The British MP informed the Deputy Speaker of the CPA’s intention to visit Nigeria in March, 2025 for continued dialogue with various stakeholders on significant parliamentary issues.
